Quincy and Yates Reports

The 1820 Quincy Report exposed how paupers were treated within the state of Massachusetts. Written by Senator Josiah Quincy III (as seen in the painting on the left), the report was an attempt to improve the methods used to treat the impoverished. In 1821, the Report was released explaining how the practices of binding out, auctioning off, outdoor relief, and removing paupers from towns they held no residence in were ineffective. The committee also ascertained that the poor were of two classes: those that were the “able poor,” who could better themselves but refused to, and the “poor” who needed public assistance. The committee also stated that many Overseers of the Poor were often exploiting the paupers in their care.

“…The Overseers of the Poor, exercised in this way has been the source of abuse, mismanagement and waste; that supplies, if given in money, are mischievous and often misapplied; when given for necessaries, as expended by the men, in ale, and by the women, for tea and sugar; that when given in articles of food and clothing, they were often sold to obtain luxuries, encouraged other applications, checked exertion and promoted habits of indolence and dissipation; and that the great object of English policy ought to be to eradicate this mode of parish support.” -excerpt from The Quincy Report              

The Quincy Report advocated for the creation of almshouses and poorhouses and that these facilities should be regulated and inspected by the state government.

“For this purpose, it is obvious, that they ought to be well regulated, under the superintendance [sic] of the principal inhabitants of the vicinity; and be conducted, systematically, with strictness and intelligence.” -excerpt from The Quincy Report

In 1823, Secretary of the State of New York, John Van Ness Yates, helped create reform laws in order to improve the treatment of the poor. Like Quincy, just a few years before, he traveled around New York State to view the standards of how counties dealt with poverty.

“Education and the morals of children were almost wholly neglected,” stated Yates. He discovered that many local government abused their poor. Some were denied proper food, given labor intensive duties, and did not receive the proper education that was mandated in individual contracts. These practices were in use throughout the Northeast as well as in New Paltz.

The Yates Report had a strong impact on how poverty was to be addressed in the state of New York. In fact, New York State created a law in 1824 declaring that poorhouses must be built and that those in need must be cared for. For more on this: (1824 Law info)            

Due to the Yates Report, improvement on how the United States treated its citizens in need soon became more federally funded, as taxes were created that helped the needy. Consequently, poorhouses began to be built throughout the state between 1824-1828. Ulster County had its own poorhouse situated on the banks of the Walkill River in the town of New Paltz in 1828. For more on the Ulster County Poorhouse see "The Ulster County Poorhouse Project."

(Image credit: Wikipedia, Gilbert Stuart, 1824—1825. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)